This is part three of the series of posts to our recent trip to Vietnam. You can find the one about Ho Chi Minh here and Hoi An here. We were told that the north of Vietnam was typically a little cooler than the south and I was looking forward to a respite from the…

This is part three of the series of posts to our recent trip to Vietnam. You can find the one about Ho Chi Minh here and Hoi An here. We were told that the north of Vietnam was typically a little cooler than the south and I was looking forward to a respite from the…

You can read Part 1 (Ho Chi Minh) of our travels to Vietnam here. Hoi An was planned as being the dedicated ‘rest’ part of our trip and I admit I anticipated this part the most. The beach! Cocktails by the pool! Buffet breakfasts! Reading on a cabana! 1. Figure out how you’re going to get around Ahead…

The flight from Melbourne to Ho Chi Minh is a survivable near eight hours in length. I use the word survivable deliberately, as a person who dislikes being on a plane full-stop and really begins to struggle with any flight that goes into double-digits (not uncommon when leaving Australia). On the plus side, at least…

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This month I’m going to begin by talking about the book I’m currently reading – Imperfect by Lee Kofman. We’ve just returned from a two week holiday in Vietnam, half of which time was spent beachside at Hoi An. Before I left I was looking forward to this prime opportunity to read a book (or four);…

This is the third and last in my series on our trip to Tasmania – you can read about our visit to Port Arthur here and about what we did in Hobart and Richmond here. 1. Where to stay and eat? Swansea is a delightful coastal town about an hour’s drive away from Wineglass Bay….

If you’d like to read Part One of this series, beginning with a trip to Port Arthur, you can find it here. I hadn’t been to Hobart since 1987. I don’t remember much – I was only eight years old at the time – but what I do remember has changed. Back then you could do…

Port Arthur is a fascinating place to visit, full of history and surrounded by beautiful, almost brutal, landscapes. Its popularity is deserved, but there are a few tips below that will help families get the best of their experience. Make the most of your tickets. By the time we landed in Hobart, picked up our…

I have nothing but praise for Becoming by Michelle Obama. It is an intelligent, layered, comprehensive and fascinating biography, about which I’ll go into more detail in a moment. What I first want to mention is that this was also my first Audible audiobook. As I’ve been training for Oxfam and spending long hours out walking, I…

This post is sponsored by amaysim Riley had been asking for a mobile phone for at least the latter half of last year. We heard all the typical pleas for getting one, including the evergreen ‘Everyone else has one except me’, which I also used to throw around as a teenager. But Adam and…

To quote the International Women’s Day website, “International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women – while also marking a call to action for accelerating gender balance.” For me, it’s a day where I think of the women in my life and those I admire, many…

Two things stood out about this first title when I first saw it on the bookstore shelf before Christmas. First the title – Hell Ship – in that evocative block font and the author, Michael Veitch, who I’d known best from 80s and 90s sketch comedies. This book is a well-done and thoroughly researched account of the…

My father passed away on the 19th of February 2009 while I was somewhere up in the sky on a plane, trying to rush home and see him before it was too late. But I was too late. My original plan was to write a new poem to commemorate the occasion. I’m still working on…